26 Feb 2024

IBP for Quick Service Restaurant (QSR)

While it is fun to get your order processed in just a few minutes, a lot of behind-the-scene supply chain processes are covered in a streamlined manner by the IBP platform in the QSR industry.

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You stand at the counter, look at the menu, and order your go-to dish for a takeaway. You have paid, and you know from your experience that you'll have items packed in the usual time window, and off you’ll go with the thought of savoring the exact taste you remember all too well. But there’s a lot more to the transaction that you just did.

From a supply chain management (SCM) perspective, a quick-service restaurant sector, like any other value chain, has to work like a well-oiled mechanism that is time-bound and essential to maintain user retention. If one has to put spotlight on QSR industry, one can simply connect to the outlet store of big brands (like Domino’s, McDonald’s, KFC etc.) and their dine-in and takeaway infra that enables their consumer base for a quick bite in minutes. In this write-up, we’ll cover how exactly the roadmap for even the most minor ingredient that goes into your order turns out. To make the picture more telling, let’s simply take the example of a pizza. From the essential ingredient of the pizza base to the optional toppings that you get while receiving the end product, every ingredient might just have a dedicated supply chain management of its own, requiring its own applications setup that manages end-to-end processes seamlessly with its stakeholders. For supply chain personnel, their tasks are planned, collaborated on, and executed better with the help of the Integrated Business Planning (IBP). And here, we’ll cover how exactly the IBP software nullifies challenges and benefits leadership with its insights.

Table of Contents


Why is IBP essential for fast food chains?

While the sentimental value of keeping records on paper will always be more appealing, the fact remains that traditional supply chain methods are always prone to human error. From keeping year-long information intact in volumes that take ages to discover to deriving some form of insights that will aid the company’s growth plan, archaic methods just don’t cut out today in the competitive market that always stands to edge each other out at every turn. Let’s lay down some key pointers that make integrated business planning for quick-service restaurants important while subsequently nullifying challenges.

IBP's essential roles for fast food chains
  1. Market Competition Retaining a customer base day after day is a crucial task that needs constant innovation. With such a fierce market where each brand wants to enhance its market share, increasing margins each quarter becomes a highlighted goal. With IBP, all supply chain departments can achieve better value for their strategic plans.
  2. Fluctuating Demand Responding to consumer demands on time means executing your plans to perfection – and that means having the correct forecast figures to prevent stockout or, in some cases, overstocking too. IBP helps the management get accurate figures, which can then be worked upon by department stakeholders.
  3. Insights for Decision-Making With a singular dashboard harboring data from all the processes courtesy of IBP, SCM has access to crucial info that aid the efficiency of the end-to-end functioning. These insights also help optimize the subsequent planning for marketing, inventory, transportation, and more.
  4. Collaboration Expanding on the point above on the accessibility provided by the single dashboard, IBP helps alignment of supply chain departments for swift action plans. The collaboration also affects the team's response in the face of disruptions, minimizing potential operational and financial losses.

How does IBP help in QSR operations?

For a fast food restaurant chain, the desired service levels must be, for the lack of better word, quicker. So, when SCM invests in Integrated Business Planning, it helps the management ease the pain that somewhat gets associated with business-as-usual operations.

IBP's assistance in QSR operations involves
  1. Optimizing Inventory Levels: With accurate forecasts at hand, stakeholder plan better for their inventory levels, preventing stockouts or overstock. This goes on to save both resources and the financial investment attached to it.
  2. Reducing Wastage: Finalized production numbers prevent stakeholders from excess buying strategy. From raw materials to inventory infrastructure, the QSR industry saves costs upfront.
  3. Handling Bottlenecks: IBP identifies operational bottlenecks through the availability of insights, which keeps the stakeholders in good stead for proactive planning and navigating older operational hiccups that might have derailed an organization’s progress.
  4. Educated Decisions: Accessibility to real-time information aids leaders in making informed decisions. The final planning and execution stage accounts for the actual prowess of the infrastructure in place and also ably responds to the market and customer demands.
  5. Workforce Optimization: Fast-food outlets have their emphasis on quick turnaround time – meaning that the workforce has their task cut out. When the forecasted sales figures are with the team, a store can plan how much headcount is actually required to make things work and to achieve maximum efficiency day in and day out.

How are 3SC’s IBP new-age solutions a perfect fit for the QSR industry?

Harboring data intelligence to navigate real-time use cases, 3SC makes the most of its analytics-powered application, enabling stakeholders and leadership to make informed decisions. In the context of the fast-food industry, where TAT is of utmost importance, supply chain processes, from procurement of every ingredient to last-mile delivery of the finished product, are a barometer for a food joint success. With 3SC’s IBP platform, you get complete transparency in every function involved, aiding the collective efforts in increasing efficiency, throughput, customer service levels, and revenue goals. The IBP software standardizes the planning leg by churning out insights based on the timelines set by the stakeholders and infuses the end-to-end value chain process with complete accountability, transparency, and information that drives the enterprise's scalability.

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